DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4203#0050
■^^■■^■^■■^B
the aim in
r historical
m literally
g. -Before
>s in detail,
nay be, the
4y recur in
:e to enter
Egyptians
brief state-
>m to have
in view by
place the
This the
time they
r complete
organs and
tions sepa-
it mode of
;her to let
ind, or else
t only the
pon which
;h it migM
of spells.
y an outfit
ided, such
me. This
ent outfit,
ts of co^
1 by *e
THE INSCRIPTIONS.
41
Egyptians qrest, a word which may possibly in
origin mean something like " the treatment of
the skeleton," as W. Max Miiller has pointed
out.
Secondly, there was the immaterial life, con-
sisting of sundry activities, perhaps in early
times designated as the has, the "workers,"
which set the body in motion, the chief of these
being the true ka, or life and " energy," and the
ba, or " soul" and will. The life was of far
greater importance than the corpse, which was
only as it were a habitation occasionally required
for the life, and which might be replaced by
a statue or other counterfeit representations.
Without the life the body lay inert; neverthe-
less the life apart from the body required daily
nourishment, and could enjoy the luxuries of
existence. No doubt the Egyptians reasoned
that the "life" was not material, and therefore
its feeding would not be material: the lea of the
man would feed on the provisions or their coun-
terfeit presentiments, and yet not consume them.
The bringing of offerings on feast days was
duly arranged for, but the matter was also
placed beyond the reach of human shortcomings
by the dogma that the gods themselves pro-
vided supplies. The ever recurring expression
pert-lcheru is probably to be translated "coming
forth of a voice " or " summons," denoting the
divine call to the dead to partake of sacrifices ;
the offerings themselves also were often called
pert-kheru. The Egyptians were not, perhaps,
ever persuaded of the truth of any one set of
doctrines, and they were willing to take any
measures that might help to attain a success
which must have seemed at times somewhat
problematic. Later their beliefs and practices
became exceedingly complex and contradictory.
We seem to discern that in the early days their
views were simpler, but evidently they thought
their preparations for launching the dead into
futurity of little avail if spells were not pro-
nounced, of which the gist is the assumption
that nil is right. State .a thing to be—in
proper form—and by the supernatural force
of the statement it actually is. Such, appears
to be a leading principle of magic in all
countries.
47. In the Old Kingdom the normal type
of the common magic formula to be pronounced
for the dead is : " Favour accorded by the king
and Anubis, a good qrest (or burial equipment)
and long endurance to (name and titles)," or
" Favour accorded by the king and Anubis, the
coming forth of a summons, bread and beer,
oxen and fowl, &c, to (name and titles)." The
formula reads like a joint decree of the king of
Egypt and the god of burial. That the god of
burial should be invoked was natural; it was
also fitting to invoke the favour of the king in
whose dominion the deceased had lived his life,
and in which lay both his tomb and the pro-
perty which endowed it. In some extremely
early cases (Mastabas, 74-7 (?), and Medum,
pi. xiii.) the decree is in the sole name of
Anubis; sometimes in the IVth Dynasty it is
in that of the king alone; but generally it is
their joint decree, the king always taking the
precedence, and the formula was actually
entitled by the Egyptians, " Favour accorded
by the king." Perhaps he was looked upon as
the donor or sanctioner of the material offerings
which the god enabled the dead to profit by, or,
as Prof. Petrie thinks, the king himself as high
priest was supposed to make the offering for
the deceased (Mar., Abydos, ii., pi. 48). It is
hardly necessary to say that the king is desig-
nated merely by his official title, and is never
any specific Pharaoh. At a somewhat later
date another decree, parallel to and following
the one in the names of the king and Anubis,
was inscribed in the names of the king and of
Osiris, king of the dead, into whose realm the
deceased passed. Subsequently we find invoked
Geb, the god of the earth, in whose bosom the
tomb was excavated ; then—as presiding over
the locality in which the man had lived, died
and was buried—the local god of the nome.
the aim in
r historical
m literally
g. -Before
>s in detail,
nay be, the
4y recur in
:e to enter
Egyptians
brief state-
>m to have
in view by
place the
This the
time they
r complete
organs and
tions sepa-
it mode of
;her to let
ind, or else
t only the
pon which
;h it migM
of spells.
y an outfit
ided, such
me. This
ent outfit,
ts of co^
1 by *e
THE INSCRIPTIONS.
41
Egyptians qrest, a word which may possibly in
origin mean something like " the treatment of
the skeleton," as W. Max Miiller has pointed
out.
Secondly, there was the immaterial life, con-
sisting of sundry activities, perhaps in early
times designated as the has, the "workers,"
which set the body in motion, the chief of these
being the true ka, or life and " energy," and the
ba, or " soul" and will. The life was of far
greater importance than the corpse, which was
only as it were a habitation occasionally required
for the life, and which might be replaced by
a statue or other counterfeit representations.
Without the life the body lay inert; neverthe-
less the life apart from the body required daily
nourishment, and could enjoy the luxuries of
existence. No doubt the Egyptians reasoned
that the "life" was not material, and therefore
its feeding would not be material: the lea of the
man would feed on the provisions or their coun-
terfeit presentiments, and yet not consume them.
The bringing of offerings on feast days was
duly arranged for, but the matter was also
placed beyond the reach of human shortcomings
by the dogma that the gods themselves pro-
vided supplies. The ever recurring expression
pert-lcheru is probably to be translated "coming
forth of a voice " or " summons," denoting the
divine call to the dead to partake of sacrifices ;
the offerings themselves also were often called
pert-kheru. The Egyptians were not, perhaps,
ever persuaded of the truth of any one set of
doctrines, and they were willing to take any
measures that might help to attain a success
which must have seemed at times somewhat
problematic. Later their beliefs and practices
became exceedingly complex and contradictory.
We seem to discern that in the early days their
views were simpler, but evidently they thought
their preparations for launching the dead into
futurity of little avail if spells were not pro-
nounced, of which the gist is the assumption
that nil is right. State .a thing to be—in
proper form—and by the supernatural force
of the statement it actually is. Such, appears
to be a leading principle of magic in all
countries.
47. In the Old Kingdom the normal type
of the common magic formula to be pronounced
for the dead is : " Favour accorded by the king
and Anubis, a good qrest (or burial equipment)
and long endurance to (name and titles)," or
" Favour accorded by the king and Anubis, the
coming forth of a summons, bread and beer,
oxen and fowl, &c, to (name and titles)." The
formula reads like a joint decree of the king of
Egypt and the god of burial. That the god of
burial should be invoked was natural; it was
also fitting to invoke the favour of the king in
whose dominion the deceased had lived his life,
and in which lay both his tomb and the pro-
perty which endowed it. In some extremely
early cases (Mastabas, 74-7 (?), and Medum,
pi. xiii.) the decree is in the sole name of
Anubis; sometimes in the IVth Dynasty it is
in that of the king alone; but generally it is
their joint decree, the king always taking the
precedence, and the formula was actually
entitled by the Egyptians, " Favour accorded
by the king." Perhaps he was looked upon as
the donor or sanctioner of the material offerings
which the god enabled the dead to profit by, or,
as Prof. Petrie thinks, the king himself as high
priest was supposed to make the offering for
the deceased (Mar., Abydos, ii., pi. 48). It is
hardly necessary to say that the king is desig-
nated merely by his official title, and is never
any specific Pharaoh. At a somewhat later
date another decree, parallel to and following
the one in the names of the king and Anubis,
was inscribed in the names of the king and of
Osiris, king of the dead, into whose realm the
deceased passed. Subsequently we find invoked
Geb, the god of the earth, in whose bosom the
tomb was excavated ; then—as presiding over
the locality in which the man had lived, died
and was buried—the local god of the nome.